


you and me and atmosphere

by CycloneRachel



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: (I tagged the ship but tbh this is pretty much completely platonic), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chance Meetings, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, One Shot, Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), Rare Pairings, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:07:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22719667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CycloneRachel/pseuds/CycloneRachel
Summary: The stars align, and after the Crisis, bring Kara back to an old friend.
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Kenny Li, Kara Danvers/Kenny Li
Comments: 8
Kudos: 23





	you and me and atmosphere

The stars looked different.

Kara didn’t notice immediately, as they were among the city lights and there wasn’t immediately time for her to look at the night sky clearly, but on one clear night, she did, and the realization refused to leave her alone.

She couldn’t yet examine what she recognized and what could have only been doppelganger stars from different universes, meeting in the same constellations and multiplying across the galaxy.

And that was just the stars- there was no way of knowing what planets were different from those she grew up learning the names of, studying alongside her aunt Astra no matter how much her mother disapproved as Astra brought her other ideals along with her during those visits.

She didn’t even know which ones had survived, and which still left vacant space in locations where life had once thrived, how many people on planets that once were who found themselves living different lives, with different families.

How many more people that had once lived on many planets, in many different universes, who now ceased to exist at all.

(The one exception- Argo. She had to know that it still lived, and when she and Brainy repaired the communication device that transmitted a signal back and forth there, hearing her mother’s voice answering her brought a wave of relief that overcame her as quickly as the tears that fell down her face)

Her first priority, however, on a night where she didn’t have to deal with Lex Luthor or other post-Crisis anomalies, was to find out for herself- just as she had when she first experienced such a disorientation after leaving Krypton, looking up at the stars above Midvale… first with Eliza and Jeremiah, then Alex, then a trusted friend. And now, on Earth Prime, she felt a need to do so again.

And so her search led her to an observatory located in one of the National City museums.

~

 _SPECTACLE OF THE STARS,_ the banner read, and Kara smiled as she looked up at it, before entering the area herself. It was close to the Krypton exhibit that she’d gotten to help with- and helped ruin, regrettably, even though that was more the fault of J’onn’s brother (she certainly hadn’t asked him to turn into a dinosaur- or for him to take Kara’s pod as a method of escape)- and before she got closer to the observatory, she lost herself a little bit in looking around there, seeing children look at everything that symbolized her journey so far, the last remaining pieces of the world she’d lost.

It was more comforting, certainly, than seeing them worship her- taking in everything with childlike wonder, admiring her accomplishments and learning her story but that inspiring them instead of throwing themselves in her path for her to save them. There was a kiosk, there, with a table that held a box of pencils and blank pieces of paper, as well as a large bottle full of those slips of paper, next to a cardboard cutout of herself, and a sign that read “How can you be a Supergirl (or Superman) to others?”.

As she watched, she saw a little girl and her mother both write things down and put them in the bottle, and she smiled. Nobody knew who she really was, here. Nobody was aware that behind Kara Danvers’s glasses was Kara Zor-El, their Supergirl, the Paragon of Hope who had helped make sure they had an Earth to live on. She and the others had brought the universe back, and as much in it as they could… but she was going to find out how much soon, after the crowd of kids around the museum’s astronomer dissipated.

~

“You’re in luck, you’re the last person who got here before my lunch break.” Says the astronomer.

Kara adjusts the bag she’s carrying on her shoulder, trying to be casual.

“Well, far be it from me to get between anyone and food.” She says. “I can… take a look myself, it’s okay.”

“Nope, that’s against the rules, I have to give my spiel to everyone.” He answers. “So, how much do you know about astronomy?”

_A lot more than anyone would think._

“I learned the basics in middle and high school.” She says instead, casually, before looking up at the telescope, and the equipment attached to it. “How does this work, exactly?”

He smiles, and she moves aside so he can show her.

“Actually, I started out making a prototype of this myself.” He says. “And when I started working here, I got to design this version- basically the same technology, but on a larger scale and with a bigger budget. Without bogging you down in all the specifics, this screen-“ he gestures to it, with a constellation already visible- “captures what the telescope sees, in photographs that can even be downloaded on one’s laptop.”

If Kara hadn’t been feeling déjà vu before, she would be now, as the astronomer continues.

“Somewhere, past all that darkness, there are whole other worlds.” He says. “Can you imagine?”

“Yeah…” she answers. “Like the one Supergirl and Superman used to live on.”

“Exactly.”

“Can your telescope see any of them?”

The astronomer gives her a sad smile, shakes his head.

“Not yet, but I’m working on it.” He says. “Someday.”

“Well, good luck.” Kara answers, knowing that whatever answers she was looking for regarding those planets would have to wait until she got a way to travel into deep space herself. Maybe she could borrow Brainy’s Legion cruiser, now that she knows he has his own- or maybe they could go together, her and Brainy, and J’onn- and Alex too of course, and Nia. Her whole team of super-friends, traveling through galaxies, getting to see the worlds they saved.

From that perspective, it did sound like a miracle, instead of the tragedy that still sometimes consumes her nightmares.

She’s so lost in thought, considering it, that she misses the astronomer’s next question.

“What did you say?”

“Do you want me to show you something I found?” he asks. “You’d be surprised what this thing sees.”

Kara nods, and he moves the telescope until he finds it- one specific comet, orbiting the Sun.

“That’s so cool.” She says, taking a look at it herself, first through the telescope and then displayed as a still image on the screen.

“Yeah.” He answers. “It’s… well, after coming up with all of this, it’s my new pride and joy. I even got to name it.”

“Really?”

The astronomer nods.

“It’s true. I, um… I decided to call it Kara- after a friend of mine, who encouraged me in all of this back when we were in high school together. She was the strongest girl I knew- and I couldn’t think of any better way to thank her. Not sure where she ended up, but… if I ever meet her again, I want to show this to her, and tell her how much that meant to me.”

 _You already did,_ Kara thinks.

“That’s… great.” She says. “Seriously, congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Kara adjusts her glasses, before moving forward.

“Sorry, I’m- I was rude, I just… realized I forgot to ask you what your name is.”

“No problem at all.” He answers. “Kenny Li.”

_I knew it._

She might not have known for certain at the beginning, but… this was definitely him. Had he never been dead, in a post-Crisis world? Or was this a version from another universe?

Would she have to ask J’onn to give him his memories back, show him what had happened to himself on her Earth? Could she do that to him, seeing him so happy, and proud of his accomplishments?

In any case, she hadn’t seen him in over twelve years, and certainly wasn’t familiar with this adult version of him, so for now she was going to move forward slowly.

“What’s your name?”

She almost doesn’t want to say. She considers giving him Linda Lee, the name Red Daughter used… but in the end, she wants to be honest with him, in a world where she gets a second chance to be.

“Kara.” She finally answers, looking around before taking off her glasses, watching his face light up. “Kara Danvers.”

“Oh my god.” He says. “ _The_ Kara Danvers? From Midvale?”

“The one and only.” She answers, and he hugs her, just for a moment.

“Sorry.” He says afterward, regaining his composure. “It’s not every day that…”

“You get to see an old friend, after years apart?” Kara finishes. “I feel the same way. It’s really nice to see you again.”

“Likewise.” Kenny says, hands in the pockets of his jacket, before pressing something into her hand. “I have a business card. If you wanted to talk, maybe catch up when you have the time-“

“I would love that.” Kara answers, accepting the card. “Thank you.”

“Thank you, Kara Danvers.” He tells her, as she puts her glasses back on, professionalism returning before he puts up a sign telling people he’s on a break. “Have a good rest of your day.”

“You too, Kenny Li.”

She realized, as she walked away, that she hadn't really gotten an in-depth look at the stars, or the specifics of how they had changed. But as much as she had wanted to know those things, and got to know them when she was younger, there were other ways she could discover them, and after this certainly other opportunities to explore such changes. What she'd gotten today was something she hadn't even considered, another positive change in addition to those that her friends had already identified, and even experienced for themselves in the month since the Crisis had ended.

And that, for the moment, might have been worth more than any changing pattern in the stars.

"Alex?" Kara asked once she'd left the museum, over the phone. "You're _never_ going to guess who I ran into today..."

~

Kara was familiar with the meaning of “star-crossed”. She’d first encountered the phrase in ninth grade English class, and earned some odd looks when she pointed out that stars couldn’t literally cross- but she’d excused herself, saying that that was theoretical, and Alex had called her a nerd. She later learned that it was a mere metaphor, and had nothing to do with real stars, that it meant fate had doomed whoever was unlucky enough to have that title, and it was most often associated with lovers.

For a long time, Kara thought her own life was star-crossed- that she was fated to lose her planet, lose her opportunity to pass the knowledge of her home to her cousin and raise him as the last son of Krypton he ought to be. Fated to become trapped in an endless, lonely void forever, until she was pulled free with the sins of her mother’s past. Fated to lose many others- from both of her best friends to, for a moment, her cousin and the love of his life, as well as her mother and the part of Krypton that she’d just gotten back. Fated to lose someone she cared about and had come to love, when she’d grown up hating his people, in a way similar to how she had been lost.

(That one especially hurt, months later, when she’d come across his copy of _Romeo and Juliet_ , meaning he too was familiar with the concept… yet he had only highlighted parts that he’d read while thinking of her)

Fated, ten years before- before solving a mystery that had led her and Alex to becoming a truly united pair, to really feeling like sisters after a few years of being awkward around each other at best and loathing each other at worst- to lose her first real friend, the keeper of secrets who hadn’t even realized how much keeping such a secret meant to her.

It was only fitting, then, that Kara and Kenny were brought back together by the stars themselves, and this time, they were aligned in their favor.

**Author's Note:**

> surprise/happy Valentine's day, friends! I'd been working on this for a while (I think it started life as a note in my phone around January 26th?) but thought this was an appropriate time to finish it up and post it here.
> 
> Basically I really enjoy the idea of Kenny being brought back because of the Crisis, and still having that backstory with Kara, so this ended up happening.
> 
> Shout-outs to karascapeism, miraculousagentsofkrypton, and iamdelta-s, the biggest Kenny Li fans I know, because they're good friends and karascapeism gave me the idea of Henry Golding as older Kenny, which is a pretty perfect headcanon.
> 
> (also, the title of this fic comes from Ludo's _In Space_ , a great Kara song)


End file.
